Proposal
by cricketchick1990
Summary: When Ichigo was planning how to propose to Rukia, he never expected that it would go like this... IchiRuki Threeshot
1. Chapter 1

_I bring you birthday fic!_

_The 13th of September __was my eighteenth, and seeing how I couldn't get Cessation started because study took far too much out of me (and will do this week as well) I decided a small oneshot to celebrate my birthday would be in order. And because I was out clubbing (what do you call it if there is only one club in the town that you have?) until four in the morning, and my internal clock woke me up at five this is all I have the energy to write._

_Now if this looks familiar, it's because of a massive cock-up on my part. I only posted this thinking it would be a oneshot - then it turned into a trilogy. And I have had several requests to put this into one place, so I have done so. Terribly sorry and I feel ashamed as an author to not have considered that possibility from the beginning - and as a result would probably end up with no reviews on this. But I don't care. This is about more than reviews (actually it's all about Ichi-bashing and Bya-bashing) so I hope you like the fact that it's in one place, and if you have reviewed previously - it is entirely up to you if you want to again. I'm doing this at the risk of being reported - for all those who have requested this action. Note that the original fics have been discarded._

_Terribly sorry once again, I should be shot for committing this heinous crime. (Stands with arms wide open in symbolic gesture to the sky - strike me down now!)_

_To all those new readers - welcome! And I hope you enjoy!_

_Hope you have the time (and the space in your heart) to review!_

"You know Byakuya would castrate you if he could see you now, right?"

If it weren't for the fact that Rukia had him against a wall, hands fisted in his hair and mouth over his, Ichigo might just have choked.

As it was, he had to push Rukia away from him - which he really didn't want to do - and take several seconds to calm his breathing as he got over the pain of her hands being wrenched from his hair and the shock of seeing Matsumoto Rangiku standing in the doorway of his office.

"Shit, Rangiku. What the fuck are you doing here?"

In all honesty he rather liked Rangiku - it was just ever since she had gone boobs first into a relationship (if you could call it that) with Rukia's brother, she had decided she needed to torture him by showing up at the most inopportune moments and threaten to report things about his relationship with Rukia to Byakuya. Not to mention hassle him every time she saw him about actually proposing to Rukia. Which he _didn't _need, especially because he already had a ring sitting in a velvet box under his mountain of paperwork and was already rather close to finding a way to propose to her that didn't involve his death immediately afterwards.

Rukia, who had straightened herself out much faster and with far more grace than the 'strawberry', kicked him in the shin. "Don't swear, idiot."

The newly appointed Captain of Fifth glared at her. "Hypocrite."

Rangiku cleared her throat before the pair began another of their famous arguments. "Ichigo…"

He ripped his gaze away from Rukia's and crossed his arms. "What?"

"You haven't talked to Byakuya yet, have you?"

He looked away. "No. Ouch, bitch!"

Rukia punched his shoulder again. "What are you meant to be talking to Nii-sama about?"

Ichigo scowled and raised a middle finger in Rangiku's direction. "It's none of your business, and it's none of hers either. Just because she's fucking your brother doesn't mean she needs to have anything to do with us."

Rangiku laughed. "Oh come on, you just haven't got the balls for it, have you?"

"If I do it I'm not going to have any balls anyway, so does it matter?"

"Stop beating around the bush, Ichigo." Rangiku laughed and stepped around the pair to sit in Ichigo's chair and put her feet up on his desk, pushing aside a pile of paperwork so that she could see the two properly. "Why don't you just do it now and ask Byakuya later? I can calm him down for you if you want."

Ichigo choked. "_Now?" _

"Yes now!"

"Do what now?" Rukia punched his shoulder again and frowned. "What are we doing?"

"Nothing!" Ichigo paled and stepped away as she raised a knee threateningly. "It's just Rangiku being annoying, okay?"

"Ask her, Ichigo."

The knee drove into his thigh. "Yeah, ask me."

Ichigo sighed overdramatically and ran a hand through his hair as he subconsciously rubbed his thigh with the other. "Do I have to? I wanted to do it differently."

"Yes! If you don't do it now you never will." Rangiku crossed her arms over her breasts and frowned at him. "Come on."

He frowned and crossed his arms. "Fine."

"Marry me, Rukia."

It was so quiet that Rangiku only realised he had said something by the movement of his lips. "I don't think she can hear you Ichigo."

He reached for Zangetsu and pointed the tip of it at the blonde. "Fuck off, Rangiku."

"Be nice, Ichigo. Ask her properly."

Rukia just stood between them, head turning back and forth and a growing look of confusion crossing her face. "I don't get it. What did you say?"

"The idiot wants you to marry him, stupid. And you are going to say yes because you love him. It's not that hard to understand." Rangiku sighed and pulled a hip-flask of sake out of her cleavage. "Hurry up, would you? I have somewhere I need to be. I can't stay here and look after you all day, Ichigo."

Ichigo muttered something about her not needing to be in the office anyway and turned his back to her, resting Zangetsu against the desk again as he did so.

"Ask her, Ichigo."

"Piss _off_, Rangiku!"

She threw the now empty flask at him and used her free hand to try and stop herself from falling out. "If you don't ask her now, _properly_, I will tell Byakuya and then help him castrate you. You've been dancing around this for years, idiot - so I'm only giving you one more chance."

He ignored her and took Rukia's hand who stared at him blankly as he fumbled around in his pocket with the hand not in hers and then swore. "I don't have…"

"Do it, Ichigo."

"Rangiku, shut up. I'm going to, alright? Pushy bitch." Ichigo sighed and took Rukia's other hand, taking a deep breath and beginning to look rather green. "Will you marry me, Rukia? I think the ring is somewhere under the paperwork and it's going to take hours to find it and it's really weird with Rangiku here and I haven't asked your brother yet but it's been a couple of years now and…and I love you." He sighed and looked away. "There I did it Rangiku, happy?"

Rukia's mouth opened and closed. "Huh?" She frowned and shook her head as she tried to decipher his scrambled words. "What about…what? _Marry_ you?"

Ichigo's shoulders dropped and he shuffled awkwardly, eyes on the floor. "It's okay if you don't want to."

Rukia slapped him and Rangiku burst out laughing again. "Of course I do, idiot! Do you?"

"I asked, didn't I?"

"Technically, you were forced into it."

"It makes no difference. I still asked you. Do you want to or not?"

Rukia gave him one of those looks that meant that she thought he was incredibly stupid and hit him again. "Duh."

"Good!" Rangiku promptly jumped out of Ichigo's chair and mauled them both, forgetting about the fact that she was still half falling out and almost suffocating Ichigo. "Congratulations!"

"Jesus, Rangiku! You could knock someone out with those!"

Rangiku just grinned and turned on her heel, waltzing out of the office as Ichigo continued gasping for breath. "I already did, Ichigo! I had a wee accident last night when I was on top of Bya-kun! Poor thing might have a concussion!"

She could hear the resultant face-faults of both Ichigo and Rukia through the closing door and laughed.

Now all she had to do was tell Byakuya, sit back, and enjoy the show.

* * *

_Well, again with the I-think-I-epic-failed comment. But oh well, I has birthday fic. And it's engagement fic! Yay! And it's major cock-up again - but here comes major apology!_

_I hoped you liked it anyway, and have the time to review!_


	2. Chapter 2

_I bring you more ficcage! Sadly not Cessation ficcage, sorry - it's beating me up more than my Chemistry exam did..._

_I got my arse kicked by organics...so shameful._

_Well, I'll leave you to it, and hope you enjoy! (And have the time to review!)_

* * *

He knew something was up the moment he stepped into the Mansion, was pushed against the wall and kissed almost - _almost_ - senseless by a very naked Matsumoto Rangiku.

"What have you done this time, Rangiku?"

She pouted and pushed aside his scarf, running her mouth along his neck and making sure he needed to use all of his Kuchiki restraint in order to keep himself from responding to her touch. "Why do you always assume I've done something just because I want sex?"

He raised an eyebrow delicately. "Because it is usually the case."

She snorted and pushed herself away from him, crossing her arms over her breasts and sticking her nose in the air. "It is not. You know as well as I do that it's always Renji's fault." She paused. "Or Shunsui's."

The eyebrow headed more towards his hairline. "I'm sure."

"Oh shut up." She turned and waltzed down the hallway, adding a extra little swing to her hips when she heard him following her. "I've got some news for you."

He paused and tiny lines etched into the area just above his nose. "You are finally going to walk around the mansion fully clothed?"

"Of course not, it's far too fun." She grinned and stopped, waiting for him to catch up so that she could grab his hand and pull him into their bedroom. "Besides, you love it really, don't you?"

If it weren't for the fact that she had broken his Kenseikan last night (and as a result caused quite a stir in his division when he arrived at the office without it - seeing as she had hid the spares as well), that eyebrow might just have touched it. "What is it that you have to tell me, Rangiku?"

"Oh, nothing much." She pushed him down onto the bed and unwound his scarf from around his neck so she could kiss along his collarbone and grinned when he shifted slightly beneath her.

"Rangiku."

"_Bya-bo_."

He stopped shifting. "I believe we have already discussed not calling me by that name."

Rangiku just shrugged and slid her hands under his haori. "Did we?"

"Yes." He paused as his hakama was loosened and Rangiku pressed herself against him. "I thought you had something to tell me."

"It can wait, surely?"

He couldn't really argue with that, seeing as at some point in that sentence she had managed to completely remove the rest of his clothing and was now trailing her hands down his stomach and along the ridge of his hips. "I suppose it can."

"Good." She grinned and straddled him, pushing her hips into his and watching as his eyes widened the tiniest fraction. "It's not really that important, anyway."

Somehow he knew that wasn't the case, but with Rangiku beginning to move above him, he surprisingly didn't really care.

It could wait until later - surely the news couldn't be too bad, could it?

* * *

When it was over and Rangiku was sprawled lazily across his chest, lightly tracing his stomach with a perfect fingernail, he remembered what had led to the sex in the first place.

"So what is it that you wished to tell me?"

She giggled (just because it annoyed him) and mocked his words silently, pressing herself closer and running her other hand down his side. "I _wished_ to tell you something about your sister, Bya-bo."

He ignored the name calling and glanced down at her. "Has she finally seen sense?"

"And dumped Ichigo?"

"Yes." She could tell from the tone of his voice that he rather liked the idea.

"Nope, sorry."

He sighed and tightened his hold on her. "A shame."

She slapped his shoulder lightly. "Don't be mean! He's a nice guy."

"He is an annoyance. Not to mention uncouth."

"You're just jealous because he got Bankai quicker than you did." Rangiku huffed and looked away from him. "You men are all the same. You have to have the biggest and the best, don't you?"

"Kurosaki's is not the biggest."

"It's still better than yours. What self-respecting man has a _pink_ zanpakutou?"

Byakuya chose to ignore the jibe. "What has he done this time?"

"Nothing much, just…"

"Just what, Rangiku?"

"Stop interrupting me!" She pouted. "You know, for a stiff - you sure do talk a hell of a lot."

"_Rangiku._" His voice had lowered and held a dangerous tone to it now, and she found herself wondering whether or not Ichigo would still have a head at the end of all this.

"Okay! Jeez!" She edged slightly away from him. "He…he kind of proposed to Rukia?"

If Kuchiki Byakuya could pale, he probably would have. As it were, it took him several seconds to come up with an answer as he tried to process the information he had been secretly dreading ever since he had found out about the relationship between the brat and Rukia to begin with. "Did she accept?"

Rangiku looked away and bit her lip - waiting for the explosion of Sakura petals. "Maybe?"

"_Rangiku_, did she accept?"

Maybe forcing Kurosaki to finally propose hadn't been such a good idea after all. Nah, stuff it - it was bound to happen eventually anyway. "Yes…"

She took great pleasure in seeing Kuchiki Byakuya choke on something that wasn't her Lemon Almond Cake for once and rolled off of him to reach into the bedside cabinet and pull out the bag of the special Red Bean Paste flavoured popcorn that Orihime had given to her on her last shopping trip to the real world. It was perfect for moments like this.

He settled within a few seconds and slowly got out of bed, pulling on his clothes with the utmost care and fastened his zanpakutou around his waist - disturbingly calm.

"Byakuya? Where are you going?"

He met her gaze for a moment, before turning and stepping gracefully out of the room. "I am going to talk with Kurosaki."

Somehow she knew that the only words spoken to Ichigo would be the release of his Bankai - so she jumped out of bed, dressed quickly and shoved the bag of popcorn between her cleavage.

"Byakuya, wait!"

There was no way in hell she was going to miss _this _show.

* * *

_Well there you have it! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and have the time to review?_

_Sorry about the cock-up once again!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Well it's been a while. But Chapter 3 of Proposal is finally here! Yay!_

_This one is dedicated to the best ever chick in the world, the wonderful, the amazing, __**Matsumama**__! Because she just rocks so hard! And has done heaps for me today, including having a wee squizz at this chapter for me! Yay her! _

_So I hope that you enjoy the final part of the Proposal threeshot, and have the time to leave a review!_

* * *

Shortly after Rangiku's departure, Ichigo somehow managed to scrape himself off of the floor, and after pulling Rukia to her feet ran a hand through his hair and groaned.

"I did _not_ need to know that."

Rukia shook her head, looking slightly dazed. "Neither did I. It's enough just knowing that they're sharing a bed, let alone who's on top of who."

Ichigo shuddered, turning slightly green. "Don't remind me. This is _Byakuya_ we are talking about - I thought he was asexual."

Rukia hit his shoulder lightly. "He was married, dolt."

"So?" Ichigo crossed his arms and met her gaze. "It doesn't mean he got any. The man's got the personality of a stick."

She huffed lightly, but didn't disagree. "I can't believe that you needed Rangiku to force you to propose. Is he that scary?"

"He has a pink zanpakutou, Rukia. Who knows what he's capable of."

"Rending you limb from limb when he finds out you've finally proposed to me?"

Ichigo snorted. "He can try. And besides, shouldn't he be happy that I'm not completely defiling you now?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"Rukia, the man may be doing the dirty behind closed doors with Rangiku - but he's hardly supportive of me doing the same to you, is he? When he found out I had only held your hand he almost went Bankai on me."

"He's protective."

"He's a damn hypocrite."

Again she didn't disagree. "So… what do we do now?"

Ichigo raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean what now? We go home, have lots of celebration sex and hope Byakuya doesn't find out before we finish. I don't want to die with my pants around my ankles, thank you very much."

She couldn't suppress a small snort, and reached up to kiss his collarbone. "Do you have much more work to do?"

He pushed her away and glared down at her. "You're seriously asking that question?"

Rukia glanced over at his desk, which was overflowing with paperwork and shook her head. "Yamamoto sou-taichou would have your head if he saw that mess, Ichigo. I think maybe you should finish things here before we leave."

"Your fucking kidding, right?" She didn't reply and he almost fainted. "_All _of it? Rukia!"

"I'm joking, Ichigo." Rukia shook her head and laughed at his pained expression. "Most of it only needs a signature, you can do it tomorrow."

Ichigo visibly sagged with relief and bent down to kiss her, his lips lingering against hers for several moments before he pulled back, grinning cockily. "Since when do you joke?"

She hit his chest lightly and grinned in return. "Shut up. So…you were saying something about celebration sex?"

He had tossed her over his shoulder, grabbed Zangetsu in his free hand and headed for the door before she'd even finished the sentence.

**XXX**

She half expected the sex to start as soon as they had closed the door to his quarters behind them. In fact, she _wanted _the sex to start as soon as they'd closed the door behind them.

But he just stood there. And seeing as she was still dangling over his shoulder and was too disorientated from the speed of his Shunpo to even process how to inflict pain on him from this angle…she was stuck.

Eventually though, he did let her down. And shortly after regaining her balance she drove a fist into his stomach - leaving him gasping for breath as he wrapped his arms around the affected area and tried to mix swear words in with the choking.

"What the fuck…was that for?"

She crossed her arms and glared at him. "You left me hanging over your shoulder while you spaced out idiot. Did you forget about having celebration sex?"

"It's still going to happen. I'm trying to remember if I left the ring under the paperwork in my office or not."

"What?"

"Well we're having celebration sex because we're engaged. So therefore you need the engagement ring. I just can't remember if it's here or at the Division."

Rukia sighed and reached forward to tug him closer by his obi so that she could press a kiss to the bare skin between the folds of his shitagi and kosode. "You're hopeless. I don't _need _to have the ring right now. I'd much rather have the sex, to be honest. Kinky if possible."

"But you're meant to have the ring."

"Ichigo, it's only a bit of metal…"

"_Expensive _metal. With diamonds in it, I might add."

She ignored him and stepped away so she could unhook Sode no Shirayuki from her waist. "…and we've been living like we're engaged for years now - it makes no difference if I have a ring around my finger or not. It can wait another minute or two, surely."

He snorted. "You know I can last longer than a minute or two, Rukia."

She laughed and hit his shoulder lightly. "Just kiss me, idiot. We can worry about the ring later."

He shook his head at her but complied, kicking off his footwear as he moved to press her against the wall, and sliding her kosode down her shoulders so he could run his tongue along her collarbone. "You're still meant to have the ring though. If your brother found out I didn't do this properly…"

"He's not going to find out." She sighed as his lips ventured lower and slid her hands down his sides so that she could untuck his hakama, swearing as she got the ties mixed up with his obi and had to move away so that she could see what she was doing. Ichigo responded in kind, yanking her kosode out of her hakama (breaking the toggle fastening her hakama to her obi) and swearing as he realised that she had tied the knots in her obis extra tight that morning.

"Bitch."

Rukia grinned and slipped her hands under the band of his hakama, loosening it so that it fell to the floor and kicking off her waraji at the same time. "Could you hurry up? I'm almost done here."

"It's not my fault. Who the fuck designed these stupid things?" Ichigo scowled, stumbling out of the folds of his hakama and reaching out for Zangestu - who had been left forgotten against the door - unwrapping the cloth from the blade with one hand as he focussed on finding the knots of her shitagi, hakama and kosode ties with the other. "They're a pain in the arse."

"Ichigo, what the hell are you going to do with that?" Rukia's eyes widened and she stepped away as she realised exactly what he had in mind. "Oh no way. You are _not _going to use your _zanpakutou_ to undress me!"

He grinned and finished unwrapping Zangetsu, turning her around with his free hand and using the point of the zanpakutou to cut through the three obis. "Too late."

She turned and slapped him. "Ichigo you bastard! I don't have another uniform here!"

"So? Did you really think you would be going back to work today?"

Rukia sighed and shook her head, trying not to ogle his naked body. "No."

"Then what are you worried about? These things are the same for men and women so you can just steal one of mine."

"Ichigo, you're twice my size. Do you really think I'm going to _fit _one of your Shihakushou_?"_ She paused and crossed her arms over her bare breasts. "Don't you _dare _say anything about my height."

"Sure thing, midget." He grinned again and dropped Zangetsu before picking her up and dumping her unceremoniously onto his side of the tatami bed - which was still unmade because he'd be so insistent on another round of sex that morning that they had been late for work and had had barely enough time to wrestle their way into uniform let alone fix the rumpled sheets.

"Shit! What the hell is under your pillow, Ichigo?"

Ichigo shrugged and balanced himself over her, reaching under said pillow to try and find the source of her pain - pulling out a black velvet box. "Found the ring."

She stared at him. "Why is my ring under your pillow?"

He shrugged again. "I don't know. I don't remember putting it _there_."

Rukia shook her head and reached out to take the box from his hand, opening it and raising an eyebrow in surprise as he took the ring out and slipped it onto her finger. "Wow, who would've thought you actually had taste? It's actually half decent."

"Oh, shut up." He bent down to kiss her, moaning into her mouth as she pressed him closer and ran a hand down his side. "Shit."

She pulled away and smothered a laugh in the crook of his neck as he reached out and pulled the covers over them, still breathing heavily from the kiss. "Why are you even bothering with that?"

"Huh?" He pulled away and she choked down a gasp as his hips inadvertently tilted into hers. "Bothering with what?"

"Ichigo, we don't _need _the covers over us. It's a waste of time. They just get thrown off anyway and to be honest, undercover sex just isn't that exciting."

He raised an eyebrow at her. "I'm covering my arse. You know, in case Byakuya does find out. And I happen to think that sex under sheets is really underrated."

She snorted and reached up to grab his chin, dragging him back down for another kiss. "Byakuya's hardly going to walk in on us Ichigo. And I want _real _kinky celebration sex."

Ichigo just sighed and shook his head before trailing his lips down her neck again and letting out one of those rare choked groans that made her whole body tingle as she automatically rocked up into him. "Does it really have to be kinky? Cos' kinky requires far too much work on my part."

"Lazy bastard." She grinned up at him and rocked into him on purpose this time, watching with amusement as his face twisted in concentration as he tried to keep his elbows locked so that he didn't collapse on top of her.

"That's not fair. Stop being a bitch to me."

"I'm not." She did it again and swore as Ichigo stiffened suddenly above her, slapping his arm in frustration. "Don't stop, moron!"

"I don't have a choice, Rukia. Look…"

She glanced up at him and laughed at the pained expression on his face. "You finished already? Come on, Ichigo - you could have at least _done _something before you went off! I thought you said you could last more than a minute or two?"

He almost went cross-eyed as he glared at her. "Fuck off, Rukia. It's not because of that, just look!"

She did, and almost choked. There was a tiny pink dot, floating delicately around Ichigo's face. A tiny, pink _sakura petal_ - which was leaving little indents and spots of blood across his skin.

Oh shit.

"Nii-sama?" Rukia winced at the shrill sound of her voice and twisted under Ichigo so that she could see past him - completely forgetting about the compromising position they were in. "What are you doing here?"

Byakuya regarded her coolly for a moment before pulling the petal back to the wall of pink behind him with the slightest twitch of a hand. "Get dressed, Rukia." He paused and looked at Ichigo, who was still frozen in one place…and only just covered by the blankets. "You too Kurosaki."

Ichigo shook himself out of his stupor and fixed Rukia with his best Kurosaki glare. "Hardly gonna' walk in on us huh?"

"Piss off."

"Byakuya doesn't _walk_ Ichigo." Rangiku stepped out from behind the wall of death and dug around her cleavage for her bag of popcorn. "Merely walking is unbecoming of a Kuchiki. He has to _glide_. Don't you know basic noble etiquette?"

Ichigo rolled off Rukia, making sure they were still covered. "Do I _look _like a stuck-up noble to you, Rangiku?"

She grinned at him through a mouthful of red bean paste popcorn and he grimaced, looking around the room for his clothes and swearing as he realised that they were in a pile at Rangiku's feet.

"Um…Rangiku? This is gonna' sound really weird… but…could you pass me my pants please?"

Byakuya raised an eyebrow as Rangiku laughed, gathering his and Rukia's Shihakushou into a large heap and throwing it in his direction. "Nice underwear, Ichigo."

"Shut up. I hate you." He glared at her and disappeared under the covers, yanking on his hakama and holding it in place with the cord usually used to tie his shitagi. It took too damn long to dress properly at the best of times and judging by the way the wall of death was beginning to move threateningly, it wouldn't be a good idea to keep the Kuchiki princess waiting. He rolled out of the bed as soon as he was done and tugged his shitagi out of the remaining pile of cloth so that Rukia could begin to dress herself while he searched for Zangetsu. "Both of you."

Byakuya raised an eyebrow slightly as Ichigo focussed on tying his shitagi. "I can assure you that the feeling is mutual, Kurosaki."

"Nii-sama, please. Don't bait him." Rukia finished dressing - somehow having managed to secure her Shihakushou with one obi - and got off the Tatami, steadying herself against Ichigo as she tripped over one of his sandals. "Ichigo is enough of an idiot without you giving him excuse to open his mouth and prove it."

"Hey!"

Byakuya just nodded slightly, the wall of pink stirring behind him. "I assume what Rangiku has informed me of is true, Rukia?"

Rukia looked down at the ground, sliding her left hand behind her back as inconspicuously as she could. "What did Rangiku tell you exactly, Nii-sama?"

"I told him you were engaged to Ichigo." Rangiku reached for another handful of popcorn and laughed as Ichigo began choking. "I didn't think you'd mind."

"Are you fucking insane?" Ichigo crossed his arms over his chest, glaring at Rangiku and trying to control his breathing. "The man doesn't need any more of an excuse to castrate me!"

"Oh he wouldn't do that, Ichigo." Rangiku stepped closer to Byakuya. "He'd rather just kill you straight away."

Byakuya's gaze shifted to her for a split second, before he faced Ichigo and Rukia again. "Is there something you wish to discuss with me, Kurosaki?"

"If your idea of discussion involves your zanpakutou…_no_."

Byakuya sighed and closed a fist, drawing _Sebonzakura _back into it's sheath in a rather dramatic fashion. "I will not attack you."

Rangiku pouted. "Byakuya! That's the only reason I followed you here!"

Ichigo let out a loud sigh of relief, but kept his hand on Zangetsu anyway, muttering something about still not trusting him. "What do you want, Byakuya? Ouch! Bitch!"

Rukia punched him again. "Don't be rude."

"I'm being rude? Rukia, your brother just walked into our room while we were having…" He trailed off, and swore. "Forget it. What is it you wished to discuss with me, _Kuchiki-taichou? _That better?"

Byakuya's eyebrow raised slightly again. "Minutely."

Ichigo sighed and rested Zangetsu against the tatami. "Can you just get to the point, Byakuya?"

"You did not ask for my permission, Kurosaki."

Ichigo looked confused. "What?"

Rukia groaned and shook her head. "You didn't ask for his permission? Ichigo!"

He huffed and leant against the wall. "It's not my fault! Rangiku…"

Rangiku stuffed another handful of popcorn in her mouth as she watched Ichigo turn a shade of red that rivalled Renji's hair. "God you're thick, Ichigo. You're meant to ask the father of the bride-to-be for her hand in marriage before you even _look _at the damn ring!"

"You're the one that told me to wait to ask him! And he's not her father."

"He's stuffy enough to be."

Byakuya made a small noise in the back of his throat that in a lesser man would have been the sound of him choking. "Excuse me?"

"Get over it Byakuya." Rangiku picked a bit of popcorn out of her teeth. "Ichigo you really should ask him for his permission you know."

"I don't need to ask his permission. I asked Rukia to marry me because I love her, all right?" Ichigo scowled and crossed his arms, turning away from the older man. "And to be honest I don't really care if he has a problem with it, or if he wants to unleash his oh-so-mighty Bankai on me because…"

"Ask him for his permission Ichigo." Rukia punched his arm as hard as she could. "Or consider yourself abstinent for the next few years."

Ichigo paled. "You wouldn't."

"I would."

"She would." Rangiku cut in, rearranging herself as she finished the last of her popcorn.

"Stay out of it, Rangiku."

"Ask him, Ichigo."

"Fine! Byakuya, can I marry your sister?" Ichigo turned to face Byakuya again, looking concerned. "Please?"

"Yes, Kurosaki."

"Why not?" Ichigo frowned. "Wait, what? You said okay? But don't you have some kind of problem with it?"

"I had no issue with the engagement to begin with, Kurosaki." Byakuya turned and walked - _no, glided_ - towards the door, hand resting comfortably on top of _Sebonzakura's _hilt. "It is Rukia's business who she wishes to…consort with. I merely wished to see the expression on your face when you realised that I knew. Though I admit I could have done without seeing you disrobed."

Ichigo choked. "You had no problem with this to begin with? _Come on_!"

Rangiku grinned as Ichigo gasped for breath. "I think this is better than watching him try to kill you would have been."

"Try? Rangiku…"

"Shut up Byakuya. I'm talking. And Ichigo, just a hint - if you're going to have celebration sex with Rukia, it should be kinky. Not that stupid missionary crap I saw when I walked in. It's boring."

With that she grabbed Byakuya's arm and hauled him out of the room, leaving Ichigo standing open-mouthed and Rukia struggling to hold in her laughter at the expression on his face and the absurdity of the situation.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me. Did she just try to give _me _advice on sex? With your brother in the room?"

"She's right you know." Rukia crossed the room to lock the door and leant against it, examining the ring on her finger casually. "It gets kind of boring after a while."

"But you like having sex with me!"

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I don't like a change in position every now and then. You can be a right prude sometimes."

Ichigo moved closer, looking slightly annoyed. "Is it really that boring?"

"Yes."

"Damn." He watched her for a second, then sighed and shrugged. "I guess kinky celebration sex wouldn't be _so _bad. You have to do some of the work for once though."

She had wrapped her legs around his waist before he'd even finished the sentence.

* * *

_So I know that heaps of people do this, but the ring in this fic is just too gorgeous to not show you all, so below is the linkage! Just remove the spaces!_

_http:// www. weddingrings. com ?int_item_id=1238&category_id=1_

_Thanks so much for reading! Hope you have the time to review!_


End file.
